Throughout the year, people entertain outside and in open spaces where guests will select, take and open or pour a beverage into a container or drink a beverage out of its original container, such as a can or bottle. If the get-together is outside or even sometimes in a home or building, the drinks can get dust, dirt or bugs in them.
In addition, wine charms have become popular, in that at parties, someone will take a specific wine charm, put it on his or her glass and use it to identify his or her glass throughout the event. These charms are ideal, because guests don't have to waste wine or use multiple glasses during the event, but instead can have one glass and use it throughout the night with the knowledge that the wine in the glass has not been consumed by anyone else.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,333 issued to Lay discloses an actual stein that is designed to hold a can and then the stein has a cover that allows the can to be covered when not in use. While this stein design acts as an insulator and allows a can to be removed and replaced by a fresh can, it does not solve several problems. For one, this stein design cannot be carried around in a purse or small bag to use at events. It is a large stein that is bulky and not easily concealed when not in use. Second, each time someone at a security checkpoint, for example, needs to make sure the can isn't an alcoholic drink, the user must physically remove the can from the stein. Finally, it is only designed to be used with cans.
To this end, it would be desirable to develop, produce and utilize a small, but effective system and apparatus for covering a beverage container that is currently in use by the person drinking the beverage. It would also be useful if systems and apparatus were able to be identified to the user, so that someone drinking a similar drink doesn't mistake his or her container for another one. It would also be useful for other people, such as security officers, to be able to see the bottle or can without having to physically remove it from the cover.